Forced by state lawmakers to delay payments into the Virginia Retirement System during the financial crisis two years ago, local school officials now worry they will have to cut and strain to pay off the bill that is coming due in 2013. Local school systems, whose teachers and employees rely on the state pension system to fund their retirements, now owe millions of dollars to the pension fund. And even though Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he’d use part of a state budget surplus to shore up the fund, and is expected to announce additional surplus funds this week, local officials say they still expect the payments to dent their budgets.

“Because of this decision [to delay pension payments], and because you have to make up for it later, it’s going to be an incredible whammy,” said Neal Menkes of the Virginia Municipal League, which represents local governments.